The Avengers - Character Guide

The Avengers are set to arrive on home video on 09/25. Refresh your memory on all of the heroes assembled in Joss Whedon's Marvel mash-up!

Natasha Romanoff (Romanova) aka Black Widow

She charmed Tony Stark in Iron Man 2 and now she returns as S.H.I.E.L.D. looks to take on Loki and his nefarious schemes. A former KGB agent and master assassin, Romanoff has received a variant of the Super-Soldier Serum that bulked up Captain America. Her abilites include peak human strength, speed, agility, reflexes and senses.

Steve Rogers aka Captain America

America's first super-soldier, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, spent much of his time in The First Avenger foiling the evil schemes of the Red Skull during the 1940s. Once Skull was defeated, Cap crash landed and was frozen, only to be woken up in modern time, some 70 years later. Stan Lee has recently confirmed that Cap is indeed the unofficial leader of the Avengers.

Clinton Barton aka Hawkeye

Only briefly seen in Thor, Hawkeye was orphaned at an early age and ran away to join a traveling circus. After witnessing Iron Man in action, he wanted to emulate him and thus employed his archery skills to fight crime, only to be mistaken for a thief by police. He was enlisted by Black Widow as her partner and the pair became romantically involved. Unhappy being perceived a criminal, he approached the Avengers with his desire to reform.

Robert Bruce Banner aka The Incredible Hulk

Banner was a scientist working on a gamma bomb who rushed out and protected a young boy from running into a test range. He was exposed to extreme amounts of gamma radiation that altered his DNA structure and caused him to become a giant green monster of incredible power whenever he becomes angry.

Tony Stark aka Iron Man

Son of industrialist and inventor Howard Stark, Tony demonstrated his father's mechanical aptitude and extraordinary inventive genius at a very early age. He enrolled in the electrical engineering program at MIT at the age of 15 and inherited his father's business when he was 21. He went on to become one of the founding members of The Avengers.

Loki Laufeyson

Loki is the son of the deceased monarch of the Frost Giants. Thor's father Odin led the Asgardians into battle against the Frost Giants and killed Laufrey, Loki's father. After slaying Laufrey, Odin found a small Asgardian-sized child hidden within the stronghold of the Frost Giants. Out of pity and honor he raised Loki as his son alongside his biological son, Thor.

Nick Fury

A former WWII vet, Fury suffered two life-changing incidents during action. A grenade blast slowly began to deteriorate sight in his left eye and a landmine accident led to him being innoculated with the Inifity Formula, which substantially slows the aging process. Fury must be innoculated by the serum every year or he will age dramatically.

Thor Odinson

The Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor is the son of Odin, All-Father of the Asgardians, and Jord, aka Gaea, the elder goddess of Earth. Young Thor was raised alongside Loki, who had been adopted by Odin after Loki's father, the Frost Giant Laufrey, had been killed in battle. During their childhood, Loki was constantly jealous of Thor which eventually grew to hatred.

Agent Phil Coulson

A special agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Phil Coulson has been a staple in Marvel movies since 2008's Iron Man. Serving as both the link between the superheroes and S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as being the comic relief in an otherwise action-heavy franchise, Coulson grew up a huge fan of Captain America.

Dr. Erik Selvig

A brilliant professor of theoretical astrophysics, he is the mentor to Jane Foster as well as a friend of her father. While traveling with Jane and their assistant Darcy, they stumbled upon a man who only announced himself as Thor. Selvig was recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. and has mentioned having a colleague who had been an expert in gamma radiation research (Bruce Banner).

Agent Maria Hill

A trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agent experienced in espionage, hand-to-hand combat and the use of a variety of weapons, Hill is cold-hearted, tough and defiant. In The Avengers she teams with Nick Fury, and previous storylines involving Hill and Iron Man, Captain America and Fury are scrubbed because, as awesome as a four hour Avengers movie would be, there will be plenty of sequels to bring the ghosts of the past to the big screen.

Virginia "Pepper" Potts Hogan

Called Pepper because of her freckles and red hair, she was working for Stark Industries when she noticed an accounting error and quickly informed her boss. Having saved the company a large amount of money, Stark promoted her to be his personal assistant. Pepper later became infatuated with Stark. We've yet to see Pepper don the Iron Man Armor MK 1616 suit as Rescue, but maybe in Iron Man 3...